


The House on the Cliffs

by hannah_is_tiredd



Series: Dark Magic in Mushroomton [1]
Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Dark Magic, Gen, new mushroomton is screwed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26008237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannah_is_tiredd/pseuds/hannah_is_tiredd
Summary: When the brothers head to the Manticore with a shaking staff, she herself senses something wrong in the realm. They go with her to search for the source, and Ian and Barley find out that they're in greater danger than they've ever been.
Relationships: Barley Lightfoot & Ian Lightfoot
Series: Dark Magic in Mushroomton [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1887700
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Onward belongs to Disney/Pixar and Dan Scanlon. The first chapter is a revitalization of the first version of Chapter 1 of A Staff's Intuition.

**_THE_** 16-year-old sits up in his bed after being jolted awake.

He stares at the staff standing by his door, leaning against his desk and watches it shake once again.

He tries convincing himself this is just a strange dream, but it is very obviously not one. He'd never seen his staff do this, not once in the past 3 months since the start of his wizarding.

However, despite this, he leans back down in his bed and covers himself completely in his sheets, wrapping them around his head to block out the noise, his blue curls sticking out ever so slightly.

There it is _again_.

Now fed up, the young elf throws off his covers and looks up to find that his staff has fallen onto the ground. He finally approaches the staff and picks it up, slightly shaking in his hands. The faint blue light emitting from the staff whenever it shakes is the only source of light in the young Lightfoot's room, other than the moonlight peeking through his curtains.

What does this mean? What antics could this possibly lead to? Who would know anything about this?

Barley.

Of course, his brother would be willing to wake up at this ungodly hour and expound upon the origins and meanings of whatever is happening to the staff.

So after a mental debate, he creeps out of his room holding on to his staff tightly, the creaks of the wooden floor sounding louder in the middle of the night. He starts down the stairs but then sees a light emitting from the kitchen down below, and hears slight muffled talking. He had forgotten it was Friday night - when Barley invites over a few friends for a Quests of Yore campaign. He then wonders if he should wait it out and investigate this himself, but he knows that his brother's campaigns can last for hours. So after sucking up to his gut, he walks into the kitchen, and at the table is his brother, dressed in his knight outfit and holding his sword. Also at the table are three other friends; a cyclops, a troll, and a gnome, all dressed as their characters as well and looking like they're into it. Ian was about to give up, feeling guilty about possibly disturbing them, when Barley saw him right away. He stands up from the table and runs over to him immediately.

"My dear brother Iandore! What brings thee here on this late Friday night?" He grabs Ian and ruffles his hair, causing him to drop the staff. "Actually, Barley, this is kind of an emergency-" Ian trips on his brother's feet when attempting to get back his staff and ends up face planting on the tile floor. Not caring about what pain he might suffer, he gets back up and grabs Barley by his vest and starts out the room, before any of the guests could say anything. "I'm so sorry, fellow warriors, but I shall be back momentarily-" He could barely finish his sentence before Ian had pulled him into the living room.

" _What's going on? Our game was getting really intense, and I need to_ -" " _Barley, just listen. I need you to explain this._ " Ian shows him the shaking staff. " _Oh no_..." " _What? Is this a bad thing?_ " Ian had already assumed that this was not a good thing but wanted assurance from his brother. Now Barley was escorting his brother down the basement and into his room, flipping through page after page in every Quests of Yore guidebook and rummaging through card after card. Barley would usually make a big stink about one of his campaigns being disrupted, but he would always set aside these moments to help his little brother, no matter the circumstances.

"Your staff is trying to tell you something is wrong," the 19-year-old starts. "We need to go see the Manticore in order to find out where we need to go." "But it's midnight, we can't just go off to see her, Mom'll kill us!" Ian comments. "And besides, I don't think Corey will be happy with us seeing her this late." "Hmm...well, I guess we can go see her first thing in the morning then. But that staff's just gonna keep you up all night..."

"I'll find a way to block it out. You go finish your campaign, and we'll head off in the morning." The younger elf assures. "Well, that's settled! Tomorrow, the Lightfoot brothers embark on _yet another glorious quest_!" The burly elf exclaims while grabbing his brother once again. " _Can you be a little quieter? I'm sure they can hear us_..." "Oh, right. Well, you return to your slumber, master wizard. Our destiny awaits!"

"And do that I shall," the 16-year-old states, imitating his brother's ye olde speak. Both elves head back up the stairs from the basement and Barley returns to his campaign while Ian heads back upstairs to his room.

The scrawny wizard shuts the door behind him, then grabs spare blankets and clothes, wraps them around the staff, and puts the bundle in his closet, hoping that would drown out the noise. He then crashes on his bed, relieved to be able to sleep now.

He then starts thinking about going on another quest. Yes, another quest sounds amazing and would probably be as exciting as the first one they went on where he tried to bring their deceased father back to life for one day. But he thinks back to when he'd almost fallen down the bottomless pit. Or that if their father's legs weren't there for them in the flooding well, they would've drowned. He quickly tries shaking off those thoughts, as his practicing magic has helped him to become more confident in himself. So he needs to stay confident, and what better time to do that than now?

Ian drifts off to sleep soon after, thinking of what could possibly happen tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, the sound of Blazey's barking wakes up Ian at 7 in the morning, much to his annoyance. He savored the roughly 6 and a half hours of sleep he was able to receive last night, and although he wishes he could sleep longer, he knows he has to get out early today to get a head start on the journey to the source of this strange staff-shaking.

He climbs out of bed and heads to his closet, where he stored his staff in a blanket to drown out the noise. He opens the door and carefully takes out the staff, which is shaking more than ever, with brighter blue lights emitting from the enlarged former splinter.

" _Chantar's Talon, this is serious_..." the wizard whispers.

Wanting to test something out, he points the staff at a shoe on the ground and recites " _Aloft Elevar_!"

Of course, no response.

" _I can't even cast spells anymore_?"

He tosses the staff on his bed and proceeds to change into one of his flannel shirts and a pair of jeans, followed by his usual pair of dark teal sneakers. 

He then grabs the staff and heads down the stairs to find Barley in the kitchen already shoving snacks into a bag.

"You sure we're gonna need that much, Barley?" the mage asks. "Better safe than sorry," Barley replies, zipping up the rucksack. "Woah, it's shaking like crazy now!" he continues, turning his attention to the staff. "Yeah, and if we wait any longer it might as well be its own weapon," Ian says.

"You boys do realize it's Saturday, right?" The boys' mother Laurel says as she heads down the stairs and into the kitchen to start her morning tea. "We do, Mom. We were gonna actually ask you if we could head out on a quest today...this is kind of an emergency," Ian shows the shaking staff to his mother.

" _Oh_...oh dear, what is this?" the she-elf asks. "The staff is telling us something is seriously wrong," Barley starts. "We have to go see Corey so she can tell us what we should do."

"Can you still do any spells with it?" Laurel asks. "I've tried, it doesn't respond to anything," the wizard responds.

"Well...I suppose you two can go. Just be sure to take your phones and don't get into any trouble," Laurel says, still hesitant about her sons going on quests due to the stone dragon incident a few months back. "I'll let Colt know. He went on duty a little while ago."

"Thanks, mom," Ian says. "We need to go now if you're fine with that."

"Oh of course, please do, that shaking staff seems pretty serious," the mother Lightfoot states. "You boys please stay safe..."

Just before the brothers get ready to head out, Laurel treats both sons with a hug and a kiss.

"Love you mom," Barley says as he grabs the keys off the rack. "Love you too sweetie..."

The brothers hopped inside of Barley's new van Guinevere II. The older Lightfoot turns the key and shifts into "O" for "onward". They then set off to the Manticore's Tavern, in search of adventure.


	3. Chapter 3

The young wizard looks out the window and watches the buildings zoom by him during the drive to the Manticore's Tavern. The rattle of the shaking staff in the back of the van is slightly muffled as they wrapped a blanket around it, but the sound still annoys Ian.

Ian looks at his watch: 7:45 AM. The tavern was a slightly longer drive away from the Lightfoots' house, as they had to drive out of town to get there. They had known that the tavern was gonna be closed, but Corey would be willing to help out her close friends in such taxing times like these. Then something comes across the young elf's mind...

"Barley..." he turns to his older brother, after a bit a silence.

"Yeah, lil bro?" "...What if Corey can't help us with this?"

"What do you mean 'what if Corey can't help us with this'? She'll know exactly what to do." "I know, but what if this is something much more major, something that goes beyond what is written in Quests of Yore? What if this is...something beyond our control?" "Ian, I'm positive we can find a way out of this pickle. We're in this together," Barley assures, looking down at Ian.

Ian lets out a subtle smile, looking at his shaking staff in the back of the van.

After their talk, the brothers arrive at the tavern. Barley pulls the van into the empty parking lot and he and Ian head up to the front door.

Both brothers peek inside the window to see if they could find Corey prepping for the day, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh great Manticore, we're in need of your assistance," the older elf says as he knocks on the door, hoping she would be somewhere else inside the tavern.

"Huh...guess we came too early."

" _WHO DARES APPROACH THE MIGHTY MANTICORE BEFORE OPEN HOURS_?" the large bat-lion-scorpion hybrid's voice booms as she suddenly bursts the doors open. She then looks down at the slightly frightened brothers and lets out a chuckle. "Oh, it's the Lightfoots! What do you need on this spectacular Saturday morning?"

"Uh, we were wondering if you could help us with this," Ian replies, holding out the shaking staff to the Manticore. Suddenly, the jovial expression on Corey's face disappears and is replaced with one of fear. " _So it's not only me_..."

" _WHAT_?" both brothers shout, realizing they were in for a true quest.

"Come with me, boys," the warrior instructs.

The elves walk in the tavern, with the chairs still upside down on the tables and the lights turned off. They follow Corey up a staircase located in the back and are led into a room full of swords and armory hanging on the walls, along with shelves of different types of potions and maps scattered around. And in the center of the west wall hung the warrior's most prized possession: the Curse Crusher.

"WOAH-HO-HOAH! This is the coolest day of my life!" Barley shouts with happiness, as he was stepping foot in the personal dwelling of the Manticore herself. Unfortunately, this happiness wasn't shared with Corey. The older elf's happy look disappears.

"There's something terrible that's going to happen in the realm very soon...I can feel it in the air," the warrior starts, turning to look at the elves. "The last time I've felt something like this was during the days of old."

"Is there any way we can fix this?" Barley asks. "There is...but I haven't done this in a long time. Let me see if I still have the right assist element..."

She then walks to a chest full of gems and digs around to eventually pull out a lilac gem.

"This is the Crystal of Oncoming Calamity. You're going to have to use this gem and recite a spell to see where we have to go..." Corey tells the young wizard. "But I can't get this staff to cast anything," Ian says. "It will work for this one," she tells him.

Ian takes the gem from Corey and puts it in the tip of his staff while she finds the spell in one of her books.

"This should do the trick," she says, giving the book to Ian. He puts the book on a table and recites the spell, pointing his staff in the air:

_This staff I weld has rendered shaken,_

_A problem has occurred._

_Tell me where the problems awaken,_

_So I can find a cure._

After he finishes reciting the spell, his staff stops shaking. A purple light emits from the staff and a large culmination of purple sparkles and dust come together.

"What is it doing?" Ian asks. "It looks like it's trying to make a picture..." his brother answers in fascination.

The particles finish making their picture, which is a realistic recreation of some cliffs along the sea. On the top of the cliffs is a small house.

"Those are the cliffs on the Western Shore," she states. "It'll take us most of the day to get there. Don't worry about telling your mom, she knows your quest will be safer with me."

"Woah...a whole day questing with the Manticore! Shall you fly us there?" Barley asks in excitement.

"It would be best if we took your van there," the warrior answers. "Just in case if something happens to me or my wings, we'll have an alternate way to get back."

"The mighty Manticore, losing her wings in defeat to this looming battle on the horizon? Nonsense, I say," Barley retorts. "Barley...I think we should listen to her. This is kinda serious," Ian says.

The 19-year-old sighs, accepting the fact that he wouldn't get to fly on the back of the Manticore herself. "Okay then. But I expect at least one ride on the back before this whole issue is dealt with."

The Manticore grabs her Curse Crusher off the wall and runs her fingers through the thick metal blade. The elves then lead the way out of the tavern. Corey walks out of the tavern after the brothers and looks back at her "closed" sign. "The tavern is closed for today...we've got a realm that needs saving."

The trio climb back into the van, and before Barley starts up the engine he grabs his bags full of snacks and opens it. "I knew we were going to need this today," he says while ripping open a bag of cheese puffs. He turns on his loud rock music while driving off, ready for a road trip.


	4. Chapter 4

"And so I lept in the view of the wretched dragon and slit its throat before he could throw his flames at the unstoppable Manticore," the warrior booms, recounting her glory days as she sits in the back of the van, gulping an energy drink.

"Are you sure you should be drinking that? Don't you already have enough energy running through your veins?" Ian asks, sitting across from her on the bench. "I need a little boost, since we're finally about to be at our destination!"

As the trio are heading to an isolated area with roads that hadn't been paved in ages, the formerly smooth ride has turned bumpy and rough. Fortunately the brothers are used to this by now, as this was a cornerstone of any adventure they'd gone on together since their first quest.

"This is the place..." Corey says.

After a day full of cheese puffs, sibling bickering, anecdotes of the days of old, and driving through desolate and empty fields throughout the realms, the trio had made it to their destination at sunset.

"At last...the Lightfoot brothers and the Manticore have arrived." Barley announces, emphasizing his theatrics.

They have ended up in a vast field with overgrown grass and a grand view of the gorgeous sunset taking place. In the distance was a small abandoned house, with a proper pointed roof instead of a mushroom roof.

The soft metal music playing in the background stops as Barley parks and turns off the engine. The three of them get out of the van and walk towards the old house. They walk on an old gravel path that hadn't been walked on or used in years, with tall grass having grown through the cracks. Up close, the house sits on the edge of a cliff that leads into the ocean. It appears to be one story high and it has deep brown siding with a small deck that leads inside.

"Why does my staff want me to come...here?" Ian asks, confused about the whole situation. "Even I don't know why it's led us here," Corey answers. "But something within it lies the root of all these problems that are about to transpire within the realm."

"I feel like we shouldn't go in there," the 16-year-old says, hesitating to walk in.

"Well, there's a good chance nobody's in there," Barley reassures Ian. "What could possibly happen in this old junk?" " _Everything_ , Barley. _Anything_ can. Wouldn't you know that?" Ian croaks.

"Look, Ian, we'll have each other's backs. No matter what happens, I can _assure_ you we'll make it out alive. Plus, we have _The Mighty Manticore_ here with us!" The wizard smiles at his brother's reassurance. "Well, I guess we'll go in then."

"That's the spirit, boys," the warrior begins. "Now let's see what this is all about."

The three head inside the house, the old wood floor creaking with all their steps. They head into what is a combination of a living room, dining room, and kitchen, with walls coated with turquoise paint and dusty mahogany wooden floors. A large antique purple-and-beige rug decorates the floor, with whimsical designs depicting the days of old and magic, along with double moons at the corners. 

A blue velvet loveseat sits in front of the rug, with cobwebs running through different areas. Cobwebs are scattered throughout the whole room in general, and Ian becomes paranoid a spider will drop in front of his face at any given moment.

Most of the room seems empty, as no pictures or any other decorations are hung on the wall. Other than the couch and rug, only a few chairs remain in the former dining room area, and in the kitchen area, the refrigerator is wide open with nothing in it, obviously not powered on as the power was shut off in the home years ago. No more knick-knacks, no more nooks and crannies, just the lone few pieces of furniture, and the possibly extremely valuable rug.

At the end of the room is an archway (where a door formerly was) that leads back to a deck overlooking the ocean, which fascinates the brothers.

"Man, who would've wanted to escape from this place? I can't imagine what would've gone down here," Barley comments. "Something horrible...I can sense it from all over this place...someone forgetting their furniture...forgetting to close the fridge..." Corey wonders. "Soo, a dramatic breakup?" Ian jokes. "Must've been one angry couple," the older elf adds.

"There's just not much here to work with," the 16-year-old gripes. "What am I supposed to do with this information?" "Ah-ah, we still haven't checked the bedroom yet!" Corey holds her hand on the handle of another door, which she assumes will lead to the bedroom. 

The elves follow behind her, and in the rose-painted room sits an empty wooden bed with a mattress void of any sheets or comforters. The pillows sit scattered on the bed without pillowcases. On the side of the room is a small window and a desk with nothing in or on it - even the drawers are gone - except for a lone white desk lamp sitting on the desk unplugged. 

"Still nothing good," Ian grunts.

The scrawny elf walks to the closet on the west side of the room and opens the doors to find a single gray flower-print shirt hanging from the top...and on the bottom is a single piece of notebook paper with writing on it.

"Guys...I think we have something," Ian announces, reaching down to grab the paper.

The wizard read the contents of the yellowed notebook paper out loud:  
  
  


_Magic. That's what you remind me of. Magic. The now rare power that resides in both of us is what draws us together. I remember what life was like before you; bleak, gloomy, oppressive loneliness. But now I have you in my life. The sound of your voice in the morning is what keeps me going. Our magical bond is one like no other. It as if a Flame Infernar was cast on my heart, and I was driven to you from that point onward. Life without you is something I could never imagine. Thank you for making your way into my heart._   
  
  
  


"That's strange...they never signed it..."

"Weird...maybe they were going to send an anonymous note? There _is_ the chance that there _wasn't_ a couple living here." Barley suggests.

"Whatever this was, didn't end well..." Ian mutters.

Before the trio decides to head back in the kitchen, a flame appears on the paper.

"What the-?"

Ian frantically tries blowing out the flame that's consuming the paper, but it only gets stronger, and the paper ends up dust.

" _Oh no_..." Barley gulps.

"What? What is this? W-why did the note burn away for no reason??" the wizard stutters.

"It seems like the note was somehow cursed by dark magic," Corey replies. "If an enemy approaches the object, it could burst into flames. Of course, it could've done worse things...but at least it stuck to something less deadly, heh heh."

"Agh, now what? There's not any interesting stuff in here anymore."

Just as Ian finishes his rant, another flame appears on the floor below him, gradually growing bigger.

" _Oh, no no no_..." he mutters.

The fire quickly spreads to the bed, and through the rest of the floor.

"Run...guys, RUN!" Barley yells, immediately grabbing his younger brother and bolting out of the bedroom, as different flames are already gulping the antique rug and loveseat. The older elf attempts to open the front door, but it appears to be stuck. " _What_...?" he croaks.

" _The window_ ," Ian coughs, as the flames start getting stronger, and the formerly turquoise-colored room is engulfed in bright orange light and destruction. The elves head to the window on the side, but the handles are also drowned with flames.

Corey attempts to pick up the loveseat and smash a hole through the wall to escape, but the couch wouldn't budge, almost as if it were superglued to the ground. " _Huh...? I could've...sworn I did my workouts..._ " she says in fatigue.

" _We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die_ ," Ian stammers as he looks back at the front door, which is now blocked by flames.

" _The dark magic is keeping us from getting out of here_..." the warrior whispers.

"...wait, of course, the deck still isn't blocked out! I can fly you two out of here and back to the van quickly."

After Corey makes her promise, part of the ceiling gives into the flames and falls onto her, knocking her onto the floor.

"COREY!" the brothers yell in unison.

" _ALOFT ELEVAR_!" Ian yells while pointing his staff toward the rubble, attempting to levitate the burning rubble off the warrior. But it was no use; the magic had somehow rejected.

" _No_..." the wizard mumbles.

"Agh...this rubble is pushing down on me...this entire house is weakening my power!" she grunts as she struggles to get up from the hot wooden floor.

"You boys, escape out the back, and swim to shore, get back to safety." "But what about you?" Ian asks, tears forming in his eyes. "I'll figure this out... _I will_..."

Suddenly, the flames in the house turn a dark purple color... _and so do Corey's pupils_.

"C-Corey..." the older elf mutters.

The warrior violently roars and swats at the elves, causing them to step back. " _No, no no...it got to her_..." Barley whispers.

"Ian, look away, we need to _go_!" he hollers. "What? But-but we need to save Corey-" "We _CAN'T_ save Corey, now come on!"

The burly elf grabs the scrawny elf's arm and takes off from the scene, running to the archway, the one way out of the house. The brothers leap off the deck, and everything feels as if it were moving in slow motion. As Ian makes his descent into the cold sea below, still holding his staff close, he looks back up at the flame-engulfed house, from which Corey may never return.

Both elves plunged into the water, the violent crackling sounds of the house burning down turning into the ambient noises of underwater.

Ian enjoys the cool water surrounding him after being in the blazing house and opens his eyes again to see his brother swimming towards the surface, away from the bright purple light. The light suddenly gets brighter where Ian is, and he looks up to see the deck starting to fall down. The wizard frantically swims away as fast as he can and follows his brother to the surface, as the deck plunges into the sea.

The soft ambient noises from under the water are interrupted when the elves' heads penetrate the surface of the wavy seawaters. Breathing in big gulps of air and treading the deep waters, they turn their backs to see that the house has collapsed to the ground, still burning. The brothers turn to each other, panting.

"Barley...why couldn't we...try to save her?" Ian asks, still in denial about the situation.

"Because...she was being possessed by the dark magic...even if you got her out... _it wouldn't have changed anything_..."

The older elf starts swimming westward, towards a small shore with a hill that would possibly lead them back to the top of the cliffs and back to the van. His younger brother follows suit shortly after, preparing for a somewhat lengthy swim for his level. Barley is a much better swimmer than Ian ever was, but Ian tries to push himself a little harder in order to keep up with his brother.

The brothers finally reach the shore, gasping and panting once they stop swimming and start wading out of the cold seawater. They look at the house in the distance behind them and see that there is no longer a blazing fire where the house once stood, a cloud of smoke taking its place.

" _Barley_..." Ian mutters his older brother's name, turning to look back at him. 

Barley looks down at the sand and slowly takes off his beanie, and turns to walk away while wiping tears out of his eyes.

Both brothers were rendered speechless. The power within that house was enough to kill the Manticore herself. And it definitely shows them that this threat to the realm is no joke.

The soaking wet elves silently make the walk back to their van, Ian dragging his staff in the dirt and Barley still holding his beanie. They travel through the hill to the top of the cliff, through the overgrown grass, onto the gravel road, and finally back to Guinevere II.

Both get in the van at the same time, their drying wet hair still drooping over their faces. Barley leans his head on the steering wheel and lets out a depressed sigh. He looks back at Ian, who has his hand on his mouth, looking at the dark cloud of smoke. Tears fill the younger elf's eyes, and all of a sudden he bursts into uncontrollable crying. This breaks the heart of the older elf, who has a bad habit of constantly holding back tears. He scoots over a little and wraps his arms around his brother, letting tears stream down his own face.

" _It's okay Ian...it'll be fine Ian...we'll...find a way to get through this_..."

This was only the beginning.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will follow up with a second part pretty soon here. Get ready for "The Wizard's Premonition".


	5. Chapter 5

The week after the incident at the abandoned house on the Western Cliffs was tough on the Lightfoots. After breaking the news to their mother on the phone as they were able to find a smidge of service in the desolate fields, the brothers cried themselves to sleep in the van and started the drive back home very early in the morning, as their tired and stressed bodies worn out from the ordeal had driven them to turn in at a much earlier time, not too long after the sun had set.

The drive back felt longer than the drive away, as Corey was no longer there to tell her stories and keep the energy up. Barley was no longer his expressive and boisterous self when he had walked out of the water that night, and still wasn't when he'd started the drive home. He never even bothered to play any music, wanting to keep it silent in honor of the former warrior. Ian kept looking out the window on his side, staring at the different trees as they pass by and occasionally watching raindrops race each other whenever it started to storm. They barely spoke to each other throughout the day, except for when they were nearing home, and Ian asked his brother: "Barley...are you sure we're gonna make it through this?" 

Barley answered, after keeping his words bottled up since last night: "Look, I know this all seems absolutely insane, the fact that this lone house was able to take out Corey. Whatever this threat may be, and whatever it or they try to do to us...only time will tell. I know I can't do much, I'm just a mentor to you. But you, Ian...I know you can do great things. I saw you cross that invisible bridge. I saw you fight that dragon. And I know this threat might be far worse than what that dragon was...but you've become such a strong sorcerer. In just these past three months you've grown so much. I know you can fight this off." 

"Thanks for the encouragement, but...Barley, it's not like you can't do anything yourself...you're certainly physically stronger than I am..." Ian stammered. "But I don't have the magic gift as you do! We're gonna make it through this...I promise."

That was the last thing Barley said before he pulled into the Burger Shire near their house, craving a full meal after being in and driving through the wilderness, living off of cheese puffs and snack cakes.

After they dug into their food and drove back home, the lightened mood instantly darkened once they opened the door to see a saddened and terrified Laurel. She wrapped the boys in a hug and didn't say anything more.

A funeral was held for Corey at her tavern a couple of days later, with much former staff and close friends in attendance. After the authorities were informed of what happened, they took the trek to the desolate area to retrieve her remains. Among the charred rubble of the house was the Curse Crusher, which had come out unscathed. At the funeral, the large sword hung on the wall over her coffin.

A long-time staff member of the tavern came up to the podium and spoke of her achievements and importance to the realm. He'd started going through a list of influential creatures in her life, and as he got to the bottom of the list, the Lightfoot brothers' ears perked up when they found out that Corey added them and their mother to the list as well.

"...And thank you, Ian, Barley, and Laurel Lightfoot, for restoring my sense of adventure and helping me realize that I'd turned into a shell of my former self."

Just when the brothers thought the list would be finished there, the staff member continued.

"And Barley...I have something special for you."

The goblin set the list down on the podium and reached for the sword hanging on the wall.

Barley quietly gasped in pure excitement, knowing what he was about to receive.

The staff member walked over to the burly elf with the Curse Crusher itself in his hands and gave it to him.

" _No way...no way_..." the elf whispered, tears welling in his eyes.

The goblin picked up the script and continued. "Barley Lightfoot, I give you the Curse Crusher, for you demonstrate the determination and bravery of a true mighty warrior. No other denizen in any realm I have explored has shown more gratitude and selflessness than you, a true knight in shining pins and patches. May you carefully and valiantly wield this sword in honor of the warrior that once ventured through these realms."

Tears of a mix of joy and sadness streamed down Barley's cheeks. He could hear Corey's voice speaking those words through the goblin's voice.

" _I will do all those things for you, great Manticore_..." he whispered. " _I will_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was originally gonna have this end at 4 chapters but i decided i wanted a bit more closure. so yea bonus chapter ye ye

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So yeah I'm scrapping Family Matters/Staff's Intuition altogether because apparently my elderly fragile 18-year-old brain with a terrible attention span is not capable of writing long fics anymore. I'm deciding to go with this collection idea instead, so you will no longer be seeing updates from Family Matters. I still need to delete A Staff's Intuition but at the same time I look at all those views and kudos...yeah the rest of the Onward fandom just dipped around June and that's sad. It's just me and like a few other people now. I guess the fandom will always be kinda small unless we get some more content, which'll probably never happen. Anyways, I'm rambling now. Heh heh.


End file.
